.TH MAKEDEV 8
.SH NAME
MAKEDEV, DESCRIBE \- make/describe device files
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B MAKEDEV
.RB [ \-n ]
.IR key " ..."
.br
.B DESCRIBE
.RI [ device "] ..."
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B MAKEDEV
may be used to create the device files normally found in the
.B /dev
directory.  The
.I key
arguments are simply the names of the devices you want.
.B MAKEDEV
knows about all supported devices and will create them in the current
directory with the proper owner and mode.  For many devices
.B MAKEDEV
will not only create the device you want, but also the devices related
to it that you will probably want too.  Naming one floppy device will
create all floppy devices for the same drive for instance.
.PP
Call
.B MAKEDEV
without arguments to see a list of keys that it understands.  Then use
the
.B \-n
flag to make the script echo the commands it will execute the next time
when you call it without that flag.
.PP
The special key
.B std
must be given alone to
.BR MAKEDEV .
This key will create all standard devices.
.PP
The command
.B DESCRIBE
will give you a one-line description of a given device.  It will by
default list all devices in
.BR /dev .
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR mknod (8).
.SH BUGS
.BR MAKEDEV "'s"
eagerness to create devices may cause many "File exists" errors from
.BR mknod .
.SH AUTHOR
Kees J. Bot (kjb@cs.vu.nl)
